Yesss! You guys are finally going to get a clue as to what's going on this chapter! As my odd cliffy denoted, dear Naomi is going to have a dream, and damn, are things gonna start coming together! Here we go!

...

Naomi blinked. And then she blinked again. It was hard to tell what was going on. It was black enough that she could be reasonably sure she was still sleeping peacefully, as she had expected, but then she was sure that more often than not, people didn't have conscious thoughts when they were sleeping. And she sure as hell was having conscious thoughts. She let her eyes roam through the darkness, until she saw a dim light approaching her. Or was she approaching it? It was hard to tell. In any case, as it got closer, it looked like it was something radiating light. She pulled her eyes away from it and sat up, to find herself bathed in an unnatural light that didn't seem to originate from anywhere. Looking back up at the approaching light, she saw that it was someone who was bathed in a light similar to hers. The person had long silver hair, and blue eyes unlike any she had ever seen. And on top of it all, he was recognizable. But from where? He seemed surprised to see her.

"Emma?" He asked, eyes wide. Her jaw dropped, but she didn't speak. "I thought you told me you don't dream yourself into the same place twice." He noted slowly. "And whose this Naomi that everyone keeps talking about?" She grasped at her throat, almost trying to physically find her voice.

"I…uhh…" she stopped, completely shocked by the revelation she'd just had. "... I'm Emma…" She breathed, speaking as if saying it aloud would make it final. It seemed to work, and she became a bit more convinced of herself. She looked up at Riku. "What happened to us?" she asked. Riku offered her a hand up, which she took, and began to lead her through the darkness.

"I don't know. I thought you were dead, but an image came up in the crystal. I didn't know who it was, until you looked in a mirror and I saw your reflection. Since then, I've been trying to figure out what happened, but I still can't figure it out." He paused, then looked at her. "Why are you all hiding yourselves?" He asked suddenly. Emma blinked.

"Hiding…? What do you mean?"

"You all act like nothing happened to you; you don't even call each other by your real names." He replied. Emma frowned.

"That's because I don't think anyone remembers what happened. I didn't, until…well, until you called me Emma. Then it all just seemed to come rushing back."

"Of course. They were all supposed to die when they went to Fa'Diel. But you showed up and changed something. You can't remember you lives before your supposed deaths, because you were supposed to have died, so instead, you all got a new life. Your presence at their deaths somehow altered their destinies." He said, stopping and watching her expectantly. Emma's eyes went wide.

"M-me? I changed their destiny?" She asked, staring at him. Riku shrugged.

"I would guess so." As he spoke, the seemingly endless line of blocks came into view. Only, it suddenly seemed not-so endless. Riku ran over, Emma on his heels, and stopped at the new end to the lines of blocks. Emma sat down next to the last set of blocks, catching her breath as Riku carefully looked over them. She watched curiously, and picked up one of the blocks on the line.

"Hey, this has my name on it." She noted casually, turning it over in her hands. Riku looked up at her.

"It does? But you weren't there before." He said, carefully taking it from her. He gasped, horrified, as the block crumbled in his hands. "What?" He stared at the dust settling on the ground. Emma watched him.

"Uhhh…sorry if I broke the square thingy." She said slowly, surprised by his reaction. Riku looked up at her.

"Your….your destiny just broke." He told her. Emma blinked.

"…..huh?"

"These blocks bind the destinies of heroes to what they are destined to eternally fight, the darkness. But…your destiny just broke." He answered, sounding quite disturbed. Emma frowned again. She wasn't sure that she liked the idea of her destiny suddenly breaking. She reached carefully out to the next block, and gently picked it up. She had just enough time to see that it had 'Sora' engraved on it before it too crumbled. She touched a third, that said 'Kairi' on it, and this time it crumbled upon her finger coming in contact with it. As the dust settled upon the one next to it, even that seemed enough to cause it to crumble, the one that had 'Yuna' on it. After that, it was a chain reaction, though it was only that column that was affected by the crumbling. Emma cringed.

"Ummmm, maybe we should just leave them alone. They seem kind of fragile." She noted, edging away from them. Riku nodded, and they started towards the crystal. Emma was rubbing her hands together, trying to keep from seeming nervous, but apparently it didn't work.

"Hey, are you okay?" Riku asked. "You're going to rub your hands raw if you keep doing that." He told her, taking her wrists and pulled her hands apart. She sighed.

"Do you know what's going to happen to me? Now that I don't have a destiny?" She asked quietly. Riku shook his head apologetically.

"I wish I did." He said slowly. Then, he seemed to get an idea. "Hey, Yuna spoke more than once to a boy called the Fayth. He seemed to know a lot about destinies and things like that. Maybe you can see if she can contact him again." He suggested. Emma shook her head.

"Yuna still thinks she's Lil." She answered simply. Riku looked thoughtful for a moment.

"But didn't you say that you remembered everything once you called were called by your name? Just call her Yuna and she should remember too, right?" He answered. Emma nodded.

"That should work. But if it doesn't?"

"Uh, I guess you could try and get Paine or Rikku or Kairi to remember and then they can help you." He answered. Emma nodded.

"Now, all I have to do is wait to wake up." She told him, not quite expecting what would happen when she did.

………………………………

Riku watched in the crystal as Lil came into Naomi's room and woke her. Naomi's eyes flickered open, and his face fell when he heard the first words from her lips.

"Lil? Oh, I was just having the weirdest dream…but I don't remember what it was about…"

………………………………

It was past midnight, and Lil was walking back to the house. There was a 24-hour clinic on campus, which, at this point, she was both thankful for and unthankful for. She stepped into the house, and shut the door quietly, with all intention of going straight to bed, but as she walked up the stairs, she decided that she needed to talk to someone. So, as quietly as possible, she slipped into Naomi's room, both because hers was the closest to the stairs and because she had been the first to go to bed and so would probably be the most awake to deal with Lil's 'news'.

"Naomi." She whispered, gently shaking the sleeping figure. Naomi began to mutter in her sleep.

"I…broke it…" She breathed unintelligibly. Lil sighed and tried again. This time, Naomi woke up, and rubbed her eyes.

"Lil? Oh, I was just having the weirdest dream…but I don't remember what it was about…" She said. Then she saw the look on Lil's face. "What's wrong?"

"Can I talk to you?" Lil asked quietly. Naomi nodded. Just then, a light flickered on outside the door. Lil and Naomi peek out into the hall to see Tegan walking towards them. She smiled.

"Evening. I was up for a midnight snack. You two hungry too?" She asked. Naomi shook her head. Lil muttered a quick no. Tegan paused.

"Hey, you guys okay?" She asked. Naomi looked at Lil, who sighed.

"Let's go downstairs. I need to talk to you guys." At that, the three of them walked downstairs. Tegan walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of milk. Lil sat down at the table, crossed her arms and buried her face in them. Naomi sat next to her, watching her worriedly. Tegan sat down on the other side of Lil and waited patiently. Lil mumbled something into her arms.

"Lil, we can't hear you." Tegan told her. Pouting, Lil lifted her head.

"I went to the clinic, you know, to clear my mind a little." She started.

"Clear your mind of what?" Naomi asked, deciding she didn't like where this was going.

"Ummm, I was a little late this month. I went to make sure I wasn't…" Her voice trailed off and she seemed to momentarily loose the will to speak. Tegan was biting her lip.

"Annie, what's wrong?" Tegan asked. (AN: Tegan calls Lil Annie. There's a reason for that, whish you may or may not have already guessed.) Lil sighed.

"I'm…umm…pr..egnant." She said, having a hard time getting the words out. There was a long silence. Then, Naomi spoke.

"Do you know who…?" She began, too shocked to get the rest of the words out. Lil's eyes dropped.

"That's just it. I've never…I mean, I was pretty sure I was still a virgin…." She mumbled. There was another long silence. No one noticed Melody walking swiftly down the stairs and out the door, not hearing the conversation in the kitchen.

She walked down the street, picking up pace, surprised by how chilly it was outside. She was becoming an insomniac, and she found that playing an instrument was very calming, and helped her sleep. The only instrument she even remotely knew how to play was a piano, and there was one in her music room. Mrs. Jenson left a key to the room in an envelope in her mailbox. Melody quietly slipped into the room, savouring the silence brought on by the soundproofing. She sat down on the piano bench playing a few random chords and keys. She decided she liked the sound of the chords she'd put together. She had a talent for taking simple piano harmonies and putting melodies and words to them as she played. She'd made up countless songs that way, even if she'd never written any of them down. She hit a few more keys, then paused, clearing her throat and creating a rhythm in her mind.

"And dreams came around you in a hazy rain
You opened your mouth wide to feel them fall
And I write a letter, from a one-way train
But i don't think you'll read it at all

And globes and maps are all around me now
I wanna feel you breathe me
Globes and maps I see surround you here
Why won't you believe me?
Globes and maps they chart your way back home"

She stopped singing, cutting off the piano and lettings silence settle over the room once again. She thought she heard a movement and spun around, not liking to think what kind of trouble she'd be in. After all, she really wasn't supposed to be in there, and didn't have any doubt that she was technically breaking and entering. Even if there was almost no doubt Mrs. Jenson would press charges against her or anything like that. She couldn't see anyone there. Shaking her head, she returned to the piano. Almost instantly, a new song formed in her mind, and she started to play.

"The moon is shining now
And shadows are what's left of all the noise
simple silhouettes and cut outs
As if we had a choice
she listens closely now
swears that she can hear a voice
that's calling her.
and saying
Hey now the straw dog's out in the street
Hey now there's chemicals in the clouds
Hey now there calling all the police
but they won't get to us anyhow"

There was another silence. There was another sound of movement. She ignored it. It seemed that it wasn't as imaginary as she'd thought, because when she didn't turn around, there was another sound of movement, as if whoever or whatever was making it was sure she hadn't heard the first. She ignored it again, but when the third sound came, she did spin around in her seat and caught sight of something. Whoever it was stepped deftly into the shadows as her eyes settled on them. She paused, her eyes narrowing on the thin strip of shadow where they were hiding. She saw another movement.

"Hey." She spoke before she knew what she was doing. The person froze. "How long have you been here for?" She asked, wondering how much of her singing they'd heard.

"Long enough." The voice answered. They stepped out of the shadows, creating a silhouette in the moonlight. Same age as she was, he had a shag of brown hair, and seemed much less on edge about the impromptu meeting than she was. She crossed his arms. "Why don't you ever write down anything you sing?" He asked. She paused, surprised, and then stood up, more relaxed now that she realized he was just another student and not faculty.

"So, you come often to my performances?' She asked in reply. He shrugged.

"If I can help it. Sure beats sitting around doing nothing when I can't sleep." He answered. "My name's Troy." He said. She smiled.

"I'm Melody." She told him. He grinned.

"Appropriate." He said off-handedly. She shrugged.

"That's getting a little old." She answered. "Being in a music program, I hear that a little too often." She explained. He nodded.

"Hey Melody!" A voice shouted. Melody turned and saw Riley standing outside the door. Tegan's warning blared through her mind. 'you're gonna be really sorry when a guy that you really do want to go out with comes along and you have to tell him that you're already going out with Riley'. I hate it when Tegan's right! She decided.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." She said quickly to Troy, walking quickly out into the hall. Riley crossed his arms.

"Who's that?" He asked sharply. Melody shot him a weird look.

"His name is Troy, why?" She asked.

"Damn it! I knew you were cheating on me!" He whispered furiously. Melody's eyes went wide.

"I'm what…?" She asked, confused. Then it dawned on her that her talking to some guy in the music room after midnight might look a little bit suspicious. She didn't say anything while Riley ranted angrily in a whisper. She didn't bother denying it. There wasn't any way she could ever convince him otherwise.

"That's it. We're over. Finished." He said, watching her and waiting for a reaction. She blinked.

"Oh. Uhh….oh." She muttered, not sure of what to say. Frowning, Riley turned on his heel and left. Troy peered into the hallway.

"Should I…umm…go?" He asked, clearly uncomfortable. He hadn't heard the conversation, but it was obvious that Riley was mad. Melody shrugged.

"No, not if you don't want to." She answered, walking back into the music room and sitting on the piano bench. Troy walked over to her.

"Are you going to sing something else?" He asked. Melody shook her head.

"I can't make one up on the spot, you know, for someone else." She told him. He frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I hope I didn't ruin it."

"Nah, it's alright." She answered. She yawned. "Looks like I'm getting over my sleeplessness. I should head back to the house now, but I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeh, for sure."